


New Beginning

by sunscreams



Series: Catradora Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Tumblr Prompt, awkward dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 21:58:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16689655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunscreams/pseuds/sunscreams
Summary: “Are you sure this is a good idea, Adora?” Catra’s ear flicked as Adora desperately tried to straighten the collar of Catra’s shirt.“Yes,” Adora’s voice was certain and firm. “You’re one of us now, and everyone needs to get used to that. You’re here to stay. If you go, She-Ra goes, too.”Now translated intoPусский.





	New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Based off two tumblr prompts from [deadcool14](https://deadcool14.tumblr.com):
> 
> How about some diverse Catradora?: Catra joined the rebellion a few days ago and Adora wants her gf to be friends with Bow and Glimmer, but Catra doesn't quite like them cuz she feels they stole Adora from her.
> 
> and
> 
> Can U do a prompt with Adora, Bow, Glimmer and Catra hanging out? Catra just joined the rebellion and Adora and the rest want to make her feel comfortable and make her part of the Best Friend Squad. And she and Adora began dating after she joined.
> 
> not sure if this is really what they wanted, but I tried :///

Adora really should not have been surprised that literally none of her friends got along. Really.

“Look Glimmer, all you have to do is not insult her,” Adora stated, following her friend as she angrily paced into her room. 

“I can’t make any promises, Adora,” Glimmer spit, teleporting up to her bed that was hovering 50 feet—at least—above Adora. 

“Glimmer,” Adora started making her way up the hovering steps. _Bow was so much better at this_ , Adora thought as she teetered precariously and almost fell off of one at least 10 feet up. “Just hear me out," Adora said when she righted herself. 

"What could you possibly have to say?" Glimmer crossed her arms and turned away from the staircase. 

Adora huffed when she finally reached the top. "Catra switched sides. We can trust her.”

“Can we though?” Glimmer finally turned to face Adora, a glad clouding her usually sunny features. “Can we really, Adora?" Her hardened features melted into something softer and sadder. "I hate to say it, Adora, but Catra has been playing you for the fool this entire last year. So how do we know this isn’t just another one of her tricks? How do I know that Catra isn’t here to hurt you again?”

Adora pulled up short at that. Because Glimmer was right wasn’t she? Catra had been stringing her along this entire year. Any time Catra showed her face, or even any hint of herself, Adora would follow, almost obediently. Adora always took the bait. 

Adora took the bait during the Princess Prom. Adora had been so preoccupied with following Catra around that she hadn’t seen Scorpia kidnap Bow. Adora took the bait in the Last One’s temple. Adora had trusted Catra to help her up…and Catra had let her fall. 

So what was stopping Catra from doing that again?

Why was she changing sides now after Adora had offered her so many other times to cross?

 

* * *

 

 _“Because I was angry that you left me,” Catra yelled, her voice bouncing off the trees around her and stopping Adora where she stood. Catra huffed with the strength of her emotions, tears making tracks down her face. Catra was beautiful in a wild and untamed way, and Adora was breathless._

_“You left me, Adora,” Catra’s voice was softer now as it wobbled over her tears. “You left me in that place, and by the time you’d gotten back, the damage had already been done.”_

_Adora’s heart sunk into her boots. “Catra,” she sighed, her breath clouding into the air in front of her._

_“And so I wanted to make you feel the way you had made me feel.” Catra’s face twisted as she spat, “Forgotten. Second-hand. Unworthy.”_

_They were silent for a moment. Catra was waiting for Adora to say_ _something. Adora didn't know what to say. And in her hesitance, the words_ _soured in the air between them._

_“I knew the Horde was bad, but I stayed because I knew it would hurt you.” And that was a killing blow._

 

* * *

 

The elation of having Catra back—of her warmth at the end of Adora’s bed, of her clawed hand at the small of Adora’s back, of her mouth tracing hot lines down the column of Adora’s neck—cooled, and her heart froze.

Because what if Catra was manipulating her? Shadow Weaver had manipulated Adora without her notice for almost 18 years of her life. Catra had manipulated Adora without her notice for the last year of her life. 

Adora willed away her doubts, “Catra wouldn’t. We—we talked in the woods. She’s telling the truth, and I believe her, Glimmer.” Adora steeled herself, balling her hands into fists at her sides and putting on a brave face, as she looked back at Glimmer. “Isn’t that enough for you?”

“It can’t be, Adora,” Glimmer’s voice was hollow, “It can’t be.”

 

* * *

 

 _“I knew what the Horde was doing for almost our whole lives,” Catra was looking at the ground. "I found out by accident when we were fourteen. I was scared and I didn't know what to do." Catra sighed,_ _“I knew I should have left, because I didn't want to be bad, but I couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving without you, and I didn’t know how to make you believe me."_

 _Catra shrugged aimlessly, "So I just waited. I waited and told myself that if you saw what the Horde was doing by yourself you would know what to do. Or if_ _I could just find some sort of solid evidence to show you, we'd make a plan together.” Catra laughed then, a humourless and empty sound. “But by the time I had an opportunity, you’d already gone and done the one thing to me, that I’d swore I’d never do to you.”_

_Adora trembled when Catra’s shining mis-matched eyes landed on her. “You left me.”_

 

* * *

 

“Adora, there you are!” Bow lowered himself onto the fountain’s edge next to Adora. His smile melted as he looked at Adora. “Is…is something wrong?”

Adora looked away. “Do you…” Adora trailed off, took a deep breath, then started again. “Do you think Catra’s manipulating me?”

Bow’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Glimmer says she won’t trust Catra because she thinks she’s stringing me along or something,” Adora sighed and looked in the opposite direction of Bow. 

Bow didn’t say anything for a moment. “Well, I don’t know Catra very well, but I do know you. And I know you’d do anything for those you care about. And I also know that you really, really care about Catra.” Bow sighed and played with the string of his bow that rested against his chest. 

“What I’m trying to say is that, I’m with you on this one, Adora,” Bow smiled at Adora. “If you trust Catra, I’ll trust Catra. If Catra stabs you in the back, I’ll be there to stab her right back.”

Adora laughed as Bow mimed stabbing the air. 

“So, I think the more important thing for you to answer is, what do you think?”

 

* * *

 

_“So, I climbed the ranks there, and I did everything I could to make you pay for making me feel that way, Adora,” Catra spit the words onto the grassy floor between them._

_“But nothing I did made me feel better!” Catra yelled her confession into the night like a something she'd been waiting to scream out loud for her whole life. She turned her face up to the sky and just breathed for a moment. Then she came back down, a flush high on her cheeks, and her tears gone._

_"Every time I hit you, and taunted you, and let you fall off cliffs, it made me feel worse. I wanted you beside me, telling me jokes. I wanted to lay down at the end of your bed, to make you feel warmer. I wanted your laugh and your smile all to myself again.”_

_“And I still do…” Catra’s voice was so, so quiet, her brows furrowed and her eyes shut tight. “So, Adora, I’m done being angry.”_

_Catra picked up her head and looked right at Adora—looked right through her maybe. “I’m done being angry, and if you’ll have be back, I’ll never leave again.” Catra cracked a smile. “As long as you promise not to leave me either. We’re such a good team and we’ve been depriving Etheria of it for too long.”_

_Catra’s smile sparked something in Adora, and the only thing she could even begin to think was, “Yes.”_

_“Yes,” Adora said louder, “Yes, yes, yes!” Adora ran forwards into Catra’s arms and pulled her close, so, so close. Adora was never letting go, not ever. They would go to the bathroom together, and that was final._

_“Catra, I’ll never, ever leave you, and if I ever start pulling away, promise you’ll pull me right back.”_

_“I will.”_

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Adora?” Catra’s ear flicked as Adora desperately tried to straighten the collar of Catra’s shirt.

“Yes,” Adora’s voice was certain and firm. “You’re one of us now, and everyone needs to get used to that. You’re here to stay. If you go, She-Ra goes too.”

Catra let out a little huff of a laugh, her eyes still downcast and worried. “You’re using She-Ra as leverage?”

“Yeah,” Adora chirped, finally giving up on the collar and placing her hands on either of Catra’s shoulders instead. “Like you said, we’re a great team. We just need to convince everyone else of it first.”

Catra’s face fell into a smirk. “And how do you supposed we do that?”

“Well,” Adora rocked on her heels, “First we get through this dinner, which will be extremely awkward by all accounts, and second, we win a super awesome battle together, proving that we make a great team, and that you are officially part of the Rebellion.”

“Well, then,” Catra purred, leaning in with hooded eyes, “Looks like you’ve got it all figured out there, Princess.”

“Of course I do,” Adora leaned in after Catra. 

“Very impressive,” Catra mumbled, her breath washing over Adora’s lips just before they collided. 

Catra pulled Adora closer, her hands warm on Adora’s waist, as her lips moved intoxicatingly over hers. Adora threaded one of her hands into Catra’s hair. It was much wilder than usual without the Hoard-issued headband she used to wear, and Adora was secretly very happy about Catra’s freed locks. 

Regretfully, Adora pulled away after only a few beats. “We have to go,” she mumbled, a smile on her lips as Catra made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat and dove in for another kiss. 

Adora let herself be reeled back in, before she pulled back, placing a bracing hand on Catra’s chest. “As much as I’ve missed you, we really can’t be late for this dinner.”

Catra sighed, placed one last chaste kiss to Adora’s lips, before she pulled away completely. 

“It’s not my fault you’re so irresistible,” Catra shot a lazy smirk over her shoulder, her tail flicking hypnotically behind her as she went. 

Adora made an affronted noise, feeling her cheeks warm as she watched Catra walk away.

 

* * *

 

The atmosphere at the dinner table was horribly, uncomfortably, painfully silent. The only sounds that could be heard were those of cutlery on porcelain and chewing. It was horrible and Adora seriously could not stand another second of the awkward tension.

Adora cleared her throat, “So,” she started, “Dinner is really good. I’ll have to give my best to the kitchen staff after dinner.”

“Y-yeah, I agree,” Bow stuttered, looking extremely grateful for the interruption from Adora. 

“We never had food like this in the Fright Zone,” Catra added, her eyes glittering wide in her face. Adora felt herself melt a little at the happy look on Catra's face. 

Glimmer narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything. Angella side-eyed her daughter then looked back at Catra. “What was the Fright Zone like?” Angella asked.

Adora felt Catra tense up beside her, her face immediately hardening. Adora dropped her hand onto Catra’s knee to offer some sort of support. “It was bad,” Catra deadpanned, and Adora squeezed her knee. 

“I mean it is called the Fright Zone,” Adora pinned a smile onto her face. “Emphasis on Fright,” Adora said through the clenched teeth of her pinned smile. 

“An evil place, for evil people,” Glimmer mumbled, pushing her food around. 

All eyes flew to Glimmer, and Catra stilled completely. Adora could feel the tension in Catra’s body under her hand on her thigh. 

“What? I’m right,” Glimmer looked around the table.

Bow sent her a small smile, “Yeah, I’m really glad none of us are there anymore.”

“Yeah, even if some of us belong there,” Glimmer spat, looking directly at Catra. 

A lot of things happened at once, then:

Catra pushed out of her chair, the sound of it harsh and grating against Adora’s ears.

Glimmer was out of hers in less than a second, closely followed by Angella and Bow. 

Catra hissed as Glimmer started to sparkle, but before Adora could do anything, Catra was gone. She’d left the room, her napkin floating onto the table behind her. 

Adora stood, wiped her face and placed her napkin down as well. She sent a look—mostly of hurt—to Glimmer before going after Catra. 

Perhaps, Adora had been too hasty in trying to bring her two worlds together. 

 

* * *

 

Much later that night there was a knock on her door. “Come in,” Adora called, and a second later, Glimmer was standing hesitantly inside. 

“Hey,” she said, her voice low, her head bowed, and her fingers tying themselves into knots.

Adora straightened from where she was polishing her sword. “Hey.”

Glimmer kicked the ground, pushing around invisible pebbles. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” Adora said, patting her bed next to her. Glimmer teleported to the spot. 

“Why do you trust her?” Glimmer started, “After all of the things she’s done, why do you still trust her?”

Adora sighed. “Glimmer, you would trust me and Bow no matter what, right?”

“Of course,” Glimmer didn’t waste a second with her response. 

“Even if we lied to you and we hurt you…” Adora trailed off, “You’d still think the best of us, wouldn’t you?”

Glimmer thought about it for a few seconds. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Yeah,” she finally said, “I think I would.”

Adora cracked a small smile, “That’s how I feel about Catra.” Adora sighed and knocked her knee against Glimmer’s. “I understand you want to protect me, and I’m so grateful that I have a friend like you, Glimmer.”

Glimmer cracked a smile at that.

“But Catra and I, we’ve already had our talk. We’ve figured it out. She’s with us.” Adora smiled at Glimmer. “I trust her, and I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing, but be there for me if anything does go bad.”

Glimmer sighed and buried her face in her legs. “I’m sorry I said those things to her at dinner.”

Adora let one side of her mouth lift up. “You should tell her that, Glimmer. She’s a lot less scary then you’d think.”

Glimmer pulled her head out of her knees, and let a tiny smile quirk her lips. "Okay."

**Author's Note:**

> prompts are still open [here](https://catradoramma.tumblr.com).


End file.
